Popular cryptocurrency & blockchain projects

Blockchains and cryptocurrencies all started with the debut of the digital currency Bitcoin in 2008. Today, there are so many different types of cryptocurrency it can be hard to keep up with all the projects! Litecoin and Ethereum were the next big ones after Bitcoin to really influence and progress the blockchain world.

They all function for different purposes, whether it be privacy, digital currency, application platforms, or open markets.

Below we have compiled some of the most popular crypto/blockchain projects and created resources pages. To look for a specific one, you can check the list to the top right to see if we have a page for it. If you are just exploring, we suggest reading the excerpts, which give you a simple idea of the function of each project.

Here you can find coin charts, block explorers, links to official websites and discussion forums, social media pages, source codes, and so much more! Our goal is to compile the most useful information in a singular place for your use to explore and understand blockchain technology and the various projects implementing it. So check them out, grow your knowledge, and explore these interesting implementations of the blockchain!

If you haven’t already, you should check out our WTF is Cryptocurrency? page, explaining WTF crypto is. It will greatly help you in understanding the basis of ideas in which some of these projects are created.

Bitcoin

As the first and oldest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin is often the very first blockchain project newcomers hear about. If you’re new to this technology, Bitcoin resources is a great place to start learning information about the Bitcoin protocol and network. From here you can check the network status, sign up for a software wallet, research technical information, or join a discussion about Bitcoin.

Ethereum

Ethereum is quite a bit newer than Bitcoin and takes a more progressive approach with integrating more innovation. Although this projects doesn’t quite yet have the longevity of reputation that its older cousin does, growing use has been slowly increasing its confidence among developers. Ethereum resources is a curated list of the best Ethereum community resources. Whether you want to learn more about EVM, download a dapp browser, or ask a question, we have researched the best Ethereum network resources.

Litecoin

Litecoin is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency nearly identical to Bitcoin. Created on October 7, 2011 by Charlie Lee, a former Google employee, Litecoin was a fork of the Bitcoin Core client, differing primarily by having a decreased block generation time (2.5 minutes), increased maximum number of coins, different hashing algorithm, and a slightly modified graphic user interface.

Ripple

Ripple is decentralized payment network for scalable and quick payment transactions across different global payment systems. It is a project focused on modernizing enterprise and financial payment infrastructures for companies, banks, corporations, and payment providers. Their network has built in features to enable these ideals, and their token XRP is used as a digital asset within the network. Their block time is quite short, and they are doing well with scalability at 1,500 transactions per second!

Dash

Dash is a up-and-coming blockchain project based on Bitcoin, but innovating with several new features such as Instant Send. These extra services are provided by a second-tier Masternode network, which can also vote on proposals. Unlike most other blockchains, which pay 100% of the transactions fees back to the validating nodes, Dash network splits the transactions fees into 3 buckets. The traditional miners are given 45% of the transactions fees. The masternodes are given an equal 45% of transaction fees. The remaining 10% goes into a general treasury fund. Masternodes make and vote on proposals, such as marketing, paying developer salaries or sponsoring a Nascar!

Zcash

Zcash is one of the latest cryptocurrencies that touts increased privacy. This is in thanks to their use of “zero-knowledge proofs”. These special cryptographic objects allow you to reveal that something has occurred without confirming what that something directly was. The end result is that transaction information such as amount and receiver can be obscured from public view. This innovation is important for blockchain use cases in a variety of industries, especially healthcare.

Monero

Monero is an open-source blockchain technology that’s sole purpose is to function as an untraceable and completely private digital currency. It enables, like some other blockchain technologies, you to be you own bank, completely in control of your funds with total privacy.

NEO

NEO is for a distributed smart economy network, and it is China’s first open source blockchain platform. They integrates the use of digital assets (protected by digital certificates), digital identity, and smart contracts to create a ‘smart economy’ which will help progress new ways of commerce.

Dogecoin

Dogecoin is a playful online community, initiated in satire over a dog meme in December of 2013. Dogecoin’s intention is to make transferring money and buying goods and services easy and instant using digital currency online, as well as to reach a broader community than the major digital currency bitcoin. Their network also enables the same ease for trading into other currencies — digital or traditional– online.

Steem

Steem is a blockchain-based social media platform that incentivizes and rewards users for participating in the network and community. Their platform enables content creators, curators, readers, entrepreneurs, and so many more to take power back from today’s social media networks, and gain control back over their content and activities on a public network.

Projects with ERC20 Tokens

ERC20 tokens are used in projects built on Ethereum’s blockchain. These tokens are compliant with certain protocols to maintain functionality and compatibility across different interfaces. ERC20 tokens are subtokens within the Ethereum ecosystem, used in different projects that have built atop it. For example, Augur, First Blood, or Golem. ERC20 is a standard for tokens, and many projects have chosen to use that standard. From this ERC20 page, you can explore different projects who have chosen to use this standard for their token system.

A blockchain-less distributed ledger project you might find interesting: The Tangle by IOTA

IOTA is a project building a decentralized, peer-to-peer network and distributed ledger called a Tangle. It is not a blockchain (chain of blocks holding information), but rather a ‘tangle,’ as it is called, or web of information. It is a new innovation in decentralized technologies, and you can check out our page here for more information about it and resources to learn more!

Fidelity Investment is one of the largest asset management firms in the world. And they’ve shown affection for blockchain and crypto before. Now they are taking it a step further, and making some real progress in their business on the blockchain.